enough so he'd go back to the city, and his girlfriend? Maybe. Maybe not. Damn! She really wanted to go back to The Channel. The place was an aphrodisiac and she had been quickly hooked.
Nora got up and showered, soon smiling at the dried semen she found in her matted pubic hair before she stepped beneath the water. It had been real! Oh, yes! It had been very real, and she could hardly wait for it to be real again. She winced as she accidentally banged her elbow on the tile wall. It was like bathing in a coffin, she thought. No lights. No view. She needed to talk to Carla. Getting out of the shower, Nora wrapped herself in a towel, grimacing as she realized that her body was back to normal! The sides of the fabric didn't overlap on her frame.
I don't have to be fat like this, she thought. I've really let myself pork up in the last few years. I need some exercise. Maybe I'll start walking with Carla. I hate the way I look in my clothes. My height is all in my torso, and so is the fat. She pulled on a pair of cotton briefs, fastened her bra, squeezed into her stretch jeans, and yanked a bright yellow T-shirt on over her head. Then perching herself on the edge of the bed, she called Carla.
'Hi, it's me. We've got to talk before the kids get home from school. Yeah, I'm here. Just barely. Come on over. I'll get out the wine. It's afternoon, and I need wine.'
Several minutes later Carla Johnson came into the kitchen with a plate of turkey sandwiches, and sat down at the table across from her best friend. 'It's only one, and I'll bet you haven't eaten. You're going to be sick as a pig if you drink wine on an empty stomach. You went to The Channel, right?' she said matter-of-factly.
'I went to The Channel,' Nora said. 'Perfect night for it. Jeff stayed in town. First time I didn't mind he did. J. J. stayed at his girlfriend's house to meet some bigwig from State.' She sipped the wine nervously, and then began to eat one of the sandwiches, surprised to learn she was very hungry.
'Well?' Carla demanded, cocking her head to one side, her brown eyes curious. 'What did you find there? And did you like it?'
'It's my dream apartment,' Nora began. 'The one I've always talked about. It is so beautiful there, and I'm not a plump matron pushing fifty either. I am this sexy redhead about thirty. And I had sex with two men. Wild animal sex!' Nora laughed.
Carla grinned. 'I wouldn't tell this to anyone else but you and the others,' she said. 'I'm Captain Raven, the pirate queen. I sail the Caribbean, and have sex with whoever takes my fancy. Two nights ago I captured an English vessel bound for the Indies. There was a very handsome and wealthy young duke aboard. He was willing to do anything I wanted him to do to effect his release. At first he was quite difficult, but I made him walk the plank. When we fished him out he became much more reasonable.'
She giggled. 'Isn't The Channel great? We can have all the sex we want without venereal disease, AIDS, unplanned pregnancies, or guilt. I don't know who invented it, but it's terrific, and we owe them a vote of thanks.'
'Nothing is for free,' Nora said slowly.
'We pay for it,' Carla replied glibly. 'You'll see it on your cable bill. Movie. Three ninety-five.'
'Doesn't Rick wonder about all those movies?' Nora asked.
'Nah, I pay the bills,' Carla said. 'And I took the twelve-dollars-a-month deal.'
'I thought you loved Rick,' Nora said.
'I do love Rick, but sometimes I want a change. I want to be young and sexy again. Doesn't everyone? I mean, hell, men do it with different women. Why are women expected to confine themselves to only one man? At least our generation thought that way. Tiffany loves her harem romance novels, so she's the sultan's favorite. Rina won't say.'
Nora laughed. She couldn't help it. 'Yeah, I'd expect Tiff would be the sultan's favorite. Carla! It was so real! I mean I'm actually sore.'
'It is real, girlfriend. Now tell me how many times you did it with them, and who are they?' She leaned forward eagerly, her brown eyes sparkling.
'Four,' Nora said, blushing with her memories. 'Three times with my lover. His name is Kyle, and he's absolutely hunky. The last time was with my masseur. He's blond, has an Austrian accent, and is named Rolf. Kyle watched us while we did it, but he got jealous, and put his dick in my mouth. We all came together! It was so wild, but then suddenly I was back. God, Carla, I want to go back there!'
Carla grinned. 'I am so glad you had such a good time,' she said. 'You're a whole different person today. How long has it been since you and Jeff were intimate?'
Nora sighed. She had never wanted anyone to know, but what difference did it really make now that she had The Channel? 'Five years,' she said softly.
'Jesus!' Carla swore. 'Your husband really is a prick.'
'I can't go back unless I'm alone in the house,' Nora said. 'I wouldn't want J. J. to find me, or see what's on the TV when I'm there.'
'That's right. The only television you've got is in the den,' Carla said. 'Hell, Nora, get a TV for your bedroom.'
'Jeff wouldn't pay for the extra hookup, and since each time I go it costs three ninety-five, I can't go too often. Even though I pay the bills, I have to account for every penny he gives me,' Nora explained. 'Too many movies, and he'll wonder why. But it's like your favorite cookies, or potato chips. Once you've tasted the pleasures The Channel offers, you're addicted.'
Carla nodded. 'I know,' she said. 'So what about Friday night?'
'We've got the AA awards. Jeff will probably come home. He'll stay the weekend. Doesn't like to look bad,' Nora said.
'So you've got a couple of days to get all hot and bothered again,' Carla teased her best friend. 'I pity Kyle, Rolf, and whoever else you dream up come your next visit to The Channel.' She grinned mischievously. 'Monday nights at The Channel. Are you ready for some fucking?' she paraphrased a commercial for the autumn football programming.
Nora laughed. 'You're impossible, Carla Johnson, but you sure are fun. Tell me how you manage to use The Channel? I mean Rick is always home at night.'
'Ah, but my darling spouse is usually asleep by nine or nine thirty. If Maureen doesn't have a date, she locks herself in her room and plays her music with her earphones on while she does homework. Then she's on the phone. I don't see her from the time she finishes supper until the next morning when she grabs a granola bar on her way out to school,' Carla explained. 'So I just slip down to my basement craft and sewing room, where a television is located for my soaps. I lock the door and party on. No one ever bothers me. We all have our little methods, because The Channel is addictive.'
'I wish they had it in the daytime,' Nora said.
Carla chortled. 'Then we'd all be caught for sure. Imagine having to come home and fix dinner for a family of four after a day of you know what? Pirates, masseurs, sultans, and meat loaf. All those delicious men who spring out of our very active fantasies, and whose sole reason for being is to please us.'
'And meat loaf,' Nora added, grinning. Then she said, 'I wonder why Rina and Joanne won't say why they go to The Channel.'
'Joanne's embarrassed,' Carla said. 'I don't understand it, but she is. But Rina, I think she maybe thinks it's disloyal to Sam. After all he is a most attentive husband, and there is no doubt they love each other But he is almost twenty years her senior. She's his second wife, you know.'
'I didn't,' Nora answered.
'Yeah, his first wife died. Cancer, I think,' Carla explained. 'I think Rina feels as if she is betraying Sam, but she still goes to The Channel like the rest of us.'
The telephone rang, and Nora picked it up. 'Jeff,' she said, and she made a face at Carla. Then she listened. 'You'll be home tonight? How nice. What would you like for dinner? Lamb chops. Alright. No problem, I haven't shopped yet. You just caught me on the way out. Because I've had other things to do, that's why.'
Carla gave Jeff the finger, and Nora almost laughed aloud.
'Yes, I'll have dinner ready at seven the way you like it. Bye.' She set the phone down. 'I am not in the mood for him. I really am not. I hope he's not forgotten he's coming Friday.'
'I've talked to Rick about your situation,' Carla said.
'I won't do anything until Jeff does,' Nora told her friend.
'You ought to file first,' Carla said. 'I mean the guy is hardly ever here, and hasn't been for years. That ain't a
